Enter The Dark
by MewWitch
Summary: The origins of Crux. Chapter 4 up.Only 2 chapters to go!
1. Playing With Fire

MewWitch: Witchie-chan here, and I finally decided to a prequel to Will of The Heart. Believe me it was a hard decision to make!

Crux: What do you mean _finally_? You've barely begun to write Will of The Hea-HEY!

Will: (Shoves Crux out of view and hearing range) Sorry 'bout that Witchie-chan, she doesn't seem to comprehend that since this fanfic is about how she came to exist, she's not supposed to show up until you introduce her.

MewWitch: It's okay, I know how inpatient Crux can be. After all, I created her, and for those of you who don't know who Crux is, you have two options; wait until she shows up in the story, or you can be bad boys and girls and take the easy way out and read the first chapter of this story's sequel, Will of The Heart, which is already posted and the second chapter is up(YAY!).

Crux: Take the easy way out.(runs away from Will who suddenly has a giant mallet)

Will: Get back here you!

MewWitch: (Sweatdrops)Whatever, and know without further addue, On With The Story!

Enter The Dark

Chapter One

Playing With Fire

_You don't know me_

_Don't ignore me_

_You don't want me there_

_You just shut me out_

_You don't know me_

_Don't ignore me_

_If you had your way_

_You'd just shut me up_

_Make me go away._

Unwanted-Avril Lavigne

"It's not fair!" she shrieked into her pillow, letting the tears pour out.

---Flashback---

_"Just go away! It's bad enough knowing that I'm the reason my house is gone. I don't need you yelling at me for misusing my powers!" sobbed Taranee as she leaned against Irma._

_Cornelia turned on Will, now roaring, "Just who do you think you are, 'Miss holyer-than-thou' ! What the hell were you thinking?"_

_"But...b-but.."_

_"Save it! Do you have any idea the crap we've been going through since our powers have been on the fritz? Of course you don't! You're the only one of us who is able to through the day without worrying that your magic will cause some sort of damage. Taranee's right, just go away and leave us alone!"_

_---_End Flashback---

"Maybe if it had been my house that caught on fire, they would-_for once_-think about how I've been feeling lately," she growled, her voice dripping with venom.

Will's mind drifted as she lay there on her bed, her anger growing as the events of the last few days finally (A.N. oh! It's the return of the 'finally') sunk in, and her eyelids began to droup. As she fell asleep, Will's thoughts were occupied by only two things; rage and fire.

---Dream---

_Blue...so blue..and so calming._

_Kind...kind blue eyes..._

_Who's eyes?_

_Deeper and bluer than the sea..._

_Eyes gently framed by gold._

_Who are you?_

_Why do your eyes make me feel safe and warm?_

_Warm...as if I was next to a-_

---End Dream---

-FIRE! Her bed was on fire! Every inch of cloth was ablaze, including her clothes!

Will jumped up, shedding her jacket in the process. She immediately began to beat the flames with it, afraid that they would spread-

-When she realized that since she had woken up the only part of the fire that had moved were the flames on her clothes, which were hanging limply from her body. Once she got used to the fact that she was _on_ _fire_ and was okay, she took the time to look at her bed.

Like a snapshot frozen in time, the flames stood motionless, as if they weren't even there. But they were. Like a natural fire (which it definitely was NOT) it crackled and lit up the room. But, it radiated heat without actually burning-she was unharmed and her sheets were anything but singed. She hadn't actually touched the flames though, maybe it only didn't affect material.

She took a chance and plunged her bare arm into the fire all the way up to her elbow. Expecting the sharp pain someone receives when they suffer a burn, the young Keeper was surprised by the soothing warmth that met her skin. Placing her other hand in the flames, she began to test her luck, smiling for the first time in days.

To Be Continued...

(A.N. Just Kidding! It just got good. Why on Earth (or off it) would I stop now when there's a perfectly good cliffy just waiting to happen?)

For the second time that day Will woke up to find herself surrounded by flames. Unlike before though, she was comforted by the soft glow and gentle heat the tinder offered.

Opening her mouth, she deeply breathed in the heavy air. Then without her knowledge beforehand, a single word slipped past her parted lips.

_**"Ignis."**_

Suddenly without warning, the hearth blazed into motion until she was surrounded by a obelisk luster.(A.N. That's a column of fire for those of you who don't know what synonyms are)

Screaming, Will tried to jump through the flames and off her bed, only to be pushed back into the center of the tower. She could only watch as flames spread from her shoulders and her feet, wrapping their way around her body, melting away her clothes. The scar on her chest began to glow and her body began to corse with a heat more intense than any fire(regular or magical) could produce.

She couldn't _see_.

She couldn't _breathe_.

All she knew was fire and heat. _Unfathomable heat!_

Then, the rapid assault on her being ended, as she saw-no-felt her bedroom vanish. Without the support of her bed, Will fell.

Thus her world went black.

To Be Continued (I mean it this time)...

Will!...What the hell just happened!

Crux: Chillax (chill+relax). This is what Witchie-chan meant by a cliffy, yeah know, a cliffhanger. I'm sure not bad happens to you.

MewWitch: She's right, there's nothing to worry about. I want to let all you readers know that this fanfic probably won't be that long(depends on how much I feel like writing). I'll try to finish it as fast as I can, I really need to get this out of my system, and I probably won't update Will of The Heart until I'm done with this. Sorry! And just to warn ya, the other characters of W.I.T.C.H. won't be that nice in this fanfic. I'm sorry but that's the way this story goes. Please don't get to mad. Also, a good portion of the story will be told through flashbacks. Why? Because I'm too lazy to do a full story and also because I want this story to be as short as possible so that I can get back to my other story's. Anyway's here's Crux.

Crux: As you know I'm not exactly supposed to be here, so I'll make this Review Work quick. If you don't know what R.W. is check out Witchie-chan's other fics' for more info. I only have so much time before Will snaps out of her daze and chases me away, so I won't waste time explaining.

Review Work

1.See if you can figure out who Will is dreaming about. Hint: Think Tokyo Mew Mew.

2.Try to find out what the word 'Ignis' means and what language it's in. Hint: What dialect are the romance languages based off of. Bonus points if you can tell me some of the romance languages.

Will: Hey! What are you doing here? Get out! (has giant mallet AGAIN)

Crux: AAHHHHH! (Runs in circles around MewWitch's room while being chased be Will)

MewWitch: Play nice you two!

Will & Crux: Sorry MewWitch-sama.(Bowing)

MewWitch: That's better, but what's with the 'sama' deal? I'm not old! And you can stop bowing for Goddess sake!

Will: Don't you mean God?

MewWitch: Nope, I'd rather think that the most powerful being ever as a female, and eventually you will too, so help me Goddess!

Will & Crux: So s-scary...

Anyways...

Until Next Time!

MewWitch


	2. Two of Us

MewWitch: Hello all ! Welcome to the second chapter of Enter The Dark. I'm gonna get right to the point and start the chapter but first I'd like to welcome my good friends; Satoshi's Babe and evilClown666, and Jake.

Satoshi's Babe: Hiya! Ryou's hot, Masaya's not!

evilClown666: Clown's suck.

Jake: Otakus Unite!

MewWitch: (sweatdrops) Okay so they're a little weird but that's why I love them! They also happen to be my beta readers for my stories and each helps me a lot. Eclown can spell, S's babe helps me with ideas and Jake...well lets just say he's great for moral support (not to mention he never criticizes anything! Woo hoo!). In the future(where's Eclown when I need her) be on the lookout for stories to be co-written with any combination of the three. Anyways...

Reviews

Seer of Light and Fire: Will is not dreaming about Deep Blue, though it's an interesting idea. So interesting that I may use it in Will of The Heart. P.S. You spelled language wrong.

Tally Solleni: Thanks for thinking that my fic's dramatic, that's definitely a little confidence booster. You sure know a lot about Latin.

iamkagomeiloveinuyasa: Glad you like it and here's that update you and my other reviewers wanted.

KaNdRaKaRgrl: Yay, you think I rock!

lily'sturmoil: Your flying guess fell a little bit short, Will's not dreaming about Phobos. In the world of my fanfic, he's gone, caput! Thanks anyways for trying.

MewWitch:Both Seer of Light and Fire and Tally Solleni get a metal and a cookie for knowing what Ignis means and what language it's in, not to mention naming several of the romance languages. Tally actually get another for being the only one to figure out that Will's dreaming about Ryou.

By the way:

"Regular talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Crux talking to Will**

_Will talking to Crux_

Hope this helps.

MewWitch:Anyways...

On With The Story!

Enter The Dark

Chapter Two

Two of Us

_The two of us we dream as one_

_The two of us, the two of us_

_The two of us take breath as one_

_The two of us, the two of us_

Inside Out-Yellowcard

**...ari...**

Darkness surrounded her, as vast and endless as the night sky. But...what was a sky?

**..hikari..**

Where was she?

**...hear..hikari..**

Who was she?

**..Hikari...**

Hikari... was that her name?

**... can you hear me Hikari... **

Yes she could hear 'them'.

Who was 'them'?

Where were 'they'? Where was 'their' voice coming from?

_Who are you?_

**Hikari you're awake. Thank Goddess.**

_Hikari...am I Hikari?_

**Yes, you are Hikari, Will.**

_Will..n-name-My name is Will!_

The memories came flooding back to her. Memories of life. Love. Sorrow. Hate. Regret. Her life came back to her, and in the split-second after she had said her name, Will experienced her life entirely. And with it came the remembrance of what had happened. Before she could even begin to speculate the reason behind it, the voice spoke again.

**You need to wake up.**

_I'm not awake?_

**No Hikari, you are still unconscious.**

_Why?_

**During the transfer from your world to mine, I was unable to protect you and you were injured. You went into this state to preserve your strength until you were better. I wasn't even sure if that would ever happen. The pain from your wounds prevented me from contacting you.**

_Pain? What pain? I-I don't what you're talking about._

**That's because while you are in this state you and your body and everything tied to it are separated. In other words, here, you have no body. And no body means no pain.**

_No body? Then...how am I speaking with you, but, I'm not speaking, am I?_

**No Hikari.**

Will thought about what 'she' 'said', for she had come to think of the speaker as a female-Wait that's it! They weren't _speaking_, they were thinking! It was so obvious! 'She' 'said' 'herself' that Will wasn't connected to her body (she didn't even have one for that matter). Which explained why everything was dark; she had no eyes to see with; if she had no eyes, she had no mouth-So how could she _speak_!

But...if she had no body, that meant Will didn't exist. But that was impossible, how else would she be able to even think about all this if she didn't exist? Think...think...she was _thinking_! Of course! Will wasn't here physically, she was here mentally! This was her mind, that explained everything (or almost everything).

_This is my mind! We're not talking to each other, we're thinking!_

**Finally figured it out, eh, Hikari?**

_Yes, I did!-Wait. Why do you call me Hikari?_

**Because you are Hikari. My Light.**

_Y-your light?_

**Yes.**

_Then..that makes you..._

**Your Yami? Yes. I am Dark while you are Light.**

_Dark? W-who are you? What are do you mean! _

**It's complicated-**

_I want to know exactly what's going on. What about that fire! What was that word I said! More important, what are you doing in my head! _

**Will it's hard to explain-**

_ANSWER ME!_

**Okay, okay. Will. Calm. Down. I'm sorry! I know how overwhelming this must be, but it'd be better if I explained everything to you face to face.**

_How!_

**Call my name and I'll be there.**

_Your name? I don't know what it is, tell me!_

**I have no name.**

_What? Then h-how-_

**You must give me my name. Only you can do this.**

_But...I can't name you! I can't even name my own pet! _(A.N.It's true right? I don't think I ever heard her dormouse being referred to as anything other than 'dormouse'. If anyone knows it's name, please tell me. It would be extremely helpful.)

**I trust you Hikari.**

Will paused, realizing what she had to do. Remembering how she had felt when she had awakened on her bed, Will let herself go, trusting herself the way her Yami did. Mentally she parted her lips and let one more word, a name this time, escape them.

"Crux"

And once again her surroundings changed.

"Crux"

Barely a whisper, the name was uttered for the first time.

_Heart._

It was ironic, her name was not only _who_ she was, but _what_ as well. It felt as though Will was trying to purposely (sp?) remind her of her past, but Crux knew there was more to the story. She simply waited, watching her creator (A.N. That's right, Will created her! Kinda cool huh?) as she began to stir from her state of restfulness.

A pair of earthen eyes opened up to her surroundings, taking in all that was around them; stone walls, a small hearth, a low-to-the-ground table with several silk cushions, rug covered floor, and tall, thin windows which granted only the slightest amount of light. But even with the dim lighting Will could clearly see the one thing that caught her attention above everything else: Crux.

Crux smiled serenely, knowing the shock her appearance must be having on Will. After all, waking up to see you exact double kinda has that effect on a person-Not that this was an everyday occurrence in the regular world. The two of them weren't _exactly_ the same though. As it was, Crux looked more like Will when she was in her other form. Her Guardian form.

Of course, even then there were some differences, she had none of the petal-like wings that came with all Guardians, and where Will's eyes were as dark as the ground, Crux's were as clear as the sky. She still carried that carefree image that Will could create for herself, even when it wasn't true at the time. Her eyes though twinkled with an untold knowledge and wisdom and at the same time mischief, something her Hikari had been lacking lately.

"Will," Crux said softly, yet firmly, letting her know that she was not to be interrupted, "I know you have many questions, it is to be expected, and though now is not the time, they will all be answered. For now I just need you to put your trust in me, for we only have so long before you must return. As with the other worlds you have traveled to, the time flow of this realm differs from that of your own. Here, currently, a year spent is equivalent to month on Earth, and even this is not always the same. Eventually the time stream will speed up here and a month could be spent in the same time it would have taken you to brush your teeth, but for the moment this place is stable.

As for why you are here, as I'm sure you're wondering, I have brought you to this place so that I could train you to use your newly found powers. I must say that I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon, but then again I haven't been that sure of anything lately. As with you, this is an entirely new experience for me as well. No one, in all the eons that I have existed, has ever had the ability to use the Heart-I mean me like you have. All of your predecessors served only as a Keeper, a distributor of the Guardian magic within me, nothing more. You...you on the other hand are actually able harness that magick as your own, as you clearly showed back in your room."

Crux paused, trying to figure how to word what she had to say next. "To answer another question. Yes. You, not your friends have been responsible for what has been going on with their powers. As a Keeper, the powers within you were kept dormant until you called upon me. But since I'm am a permanent part of you now, our magick has awakened. As of yet your body has been struggling with this, for it and you are not used to having all of Infinity at your fingertips. As a result our magick has escaped us several times, manifesting itself through your friends. It is for this reason that I must train you how to rein in the powers we contain. We are lucky that I have been able to prevent anything to dangerous from happening so far, but I can only do so much with out your help. It is for this reason that I must train you how to rein in the powers we contain."

"But-"

**Don't speak.** Crux interrupted her other half before she could continue. **We only have so much time and what should have been learned over centuries, must be learned quickly and efficiently. While you are here I must train you both in body and mind and to ensure that both has been focused on equally we must take several precautions. The first of which is that all communications-if any- must be made through thought. Now before we start, I must know Hikari, are you ready?**

_Yes._

And so began both the training and awakening of Will Vandom, The Light of The Heart. What took place over that amount of time among the other realm is not something which could be explained to any mere mortal. Knowledge was gained and then immediately forgotten. Memories of events were permanently suppressed, though not the experience gained through them. What thought were lost breathed again, only to disappear from the everlasting time stream. Life was granted and taken, over and over, repeating in an eternal cycle. Time speed up quicker than anticipated, increasing alongside the accomplishments. Weeks turned to months, months to years, and years to decades.

To Be Continued...

MewWitch: 'Sup, everyone? Hope you like the fic so far. I've kinda had a breakthrough with this story, so it might be a little longer than I'd thought it'd be, but the chapters probably won't be as long as this one. It all depends on what I come up with, I'm just making this up as I go along. Hehe.

Until next time! Don't forget to review!

MewWitch


	3. You Forget Empty Apartment

MewWitch: I just want to let you all know that in the universe of my story, several things are different from the series:

1.Calab was not turned into a flower, he died.

2.Matt never gave Will that note asking her out.

3.Cedric and Phobos were not imprisoned-they were destroyed.

4. Susan Vandom is suspicious about the way her daughter has been acting.

5. Neirssicia(sp?) or whatever her name is, never attacked.

6.Yah Lin never died.

Enter the Dark

Chapter Five

You Forget

(Empty Apartment)

The Oracle was worried.

Five months had passed on Earth since the Keeper of the Heart of Candracar disappeared, and there was still no explaination behind it. But what troubled him and councle(A.N.sp?) even more was that the rest of the Guardians didn't seem to care. No, they didn't even appear to care about the friends still around them.

_Called me out, you stayed inside_

_One you love is where you hide_

_Shot me down as I flew by_

_Crash and burn I think sometimes_

_You forget where the heart is_

Cornelia spent all her time on the Heathersfield shoreline. She would sit there for hours, watching one surfer in particular, not caring that her skin was burnt. Since Calab died, the Earth girl had lost all interest in her looks and gave up on having someone to care for her. When Peter asked her out, she jumped at the chance to be with someone, even though she knew he saw her as a charity case at worse, a summer fling at best. If someone was to actually ask her if she really felt that way, she would have instantly replied _'no'._

_Answer no to these questions_

_Let her go learn a lesson_

_It's not me you're not listening now_

_Can't you see something's missing_

_You forget where the heart is_

Taranee was always at a her part-time job at Mr.Olsen's pet shop. At first she told herself she was just filling in for Will, but with her main rival was out of the picture, she ended up coming clean with her long-time secret crush, Matt. Since Will probably wasn't going to come back, the Fire wielder didn't feel the least bit of guilt when he returned her feelings.

_Take you away from that empty apartment_

_You stay and forget where the heart is_

_Someday if you ever loved me you'd say _

_It's okay_

As of late, Hay Lin had buried herself with work, helping out her parents at the Silver Dragon.(A.N. that's the name of the restaurant right?) When she wasn't busy serving hungry customers, the Air spirit would be found painting images of her and the others when they were fighting as Guardians. She found that the more she painted the memories, the less gruesome her nightmares were.

_Waking up from this nightmare_

_How's your life? What's it like there?_

_Is it all what you want it to be?_

_Does it hurt when you think of me?_

_And how broken my heart is_

Irma on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She and Martin were officially dating, and it all started thanks to their summer internships at the Heathersfield Museum.(A.N.okay, I know I spelled that one wrong.) The two had spent everyday working side by side until they finally gave into the inevitable.(A.N.sp?) Surprisingly, it was Irma who made the first move, boldly kissing Martin in front of their mutually-shared favorite piece of art; A still-life of a winged sea being, which they both thought looked remarkably like Irma. The painting in fact, was a part of a five piece set, created by a local, unnamed artist. And though she'd never been happier, the real life Water being could not help the tears she shed in the dead of night.

_Take you away from that empty apartment_

_You stay and forget where the heart is_

_Someday if you ever loved me you'd say_

_It's okay_

The one thing they all seemed to have in common(A.N.sp?) was that at some point they all felt betrayed by the one they believed to be the cause of their pain. They despised her, if it'd hadn't been for her, this never would have happened and for that, she could never be forgiven. They all wished they'd never met the one called Will Vandom. If she had not come along, they never would have been called upon as Guardians, and they would of been content with their simple lives, not knowing the horrors of the Universe. They had all entered this journey together, so why, out of all of them, why was _she_ allowed to leave this place behind now that it was over. But then, they'd remember all the good times they spent as a team, and it was in those moments, they'd wonder if it was their fault she was gone, and part of them wished she'd return, once again their friend. But it was a small part indeed, and once they returned from the world of fantasy, and to the world of reality, they would forget they ever felt that way.

_It's okay to be angry and never let go_

_It only gets harder the more that you know_

_When you get lonely if no one's around_

_You know that I'll catch you when you're falling down_

_We came together but you left alone_

_And I know how it feels to walk out on your own_

_Maybe someday I will see you again_

_And you'll look me in my eyes and call me your friend_

All of this the Oracle knew of, and now, more then ever, he wondered how the young leader would react to the drastic changes that the girls had gone through.

He's about to find out.

_Take you away from that empty apartment_

_You stay and forget where the heart is_

_Someday if you ever loved me you'd say_

_It's okay_

To Be Continued...

MeWitch:For some reason, I have nothing to say. Instead, I'll recite part of a poem from a book I got for Christmas entitled William Blake: The Completed Poems. I actually got to other poetry books called The Completed Poems of Emily Dickinson, and The Poetry of Robert Frost and will be using part of or entire pieces of their poetry in my stories.

A Little Girl Lost

By William Blake

_ Children of the future Age,_

_Reading this indignant page:_

_Know that in a former time,_

_Love! sweet love! was thought a crime._

Crux: Crux is in the house, and I'm here to say it's time once again for Review Work!

Review Work

I wanna know if anyone knows who the local unnamed artist is. Hint:The person was in this chapter.

Until Next Time,

MewWitch


	4. Unbandaged

MewWitch:Here's chapter 4, in which you meet a brand new character. Her name's Tori, and she's basically a stray that Crux found and brought home. She is very protective of Will. Hope you like her, she's actually based on the little sister of my good friend hisokauzumaki who's just recently logged onto this site thanks to _moi_.

hisokauzumaki:She forced me.

MewWitch:Hee hee. Anyways Tori actually belongs to hisoka and he's just letting me borrow her for this story. If you want to see her again, she'll most likely be appearing in stories by hisoka. BTW, I accidentally labeled the last chapter as chapter 5, it's really 3. Sorry!

Reviewers:

_'Blah' -Thinking_

"Blah"-Regular talking

**Blah-Crux talking to Will**

_Blah-Will talking to Crux_

_**"Blah"-Chants**_

On With The Story!

Enter The Dark

Chapter Four

Unbandaged

_"Mayowazu ni Kono ai wo shinji ikiteyuku_

_Fusagaranu kizuguchi mo gyu'tto dakishimete"_

_"Without hesitation, I believe in this love and live on_

_I'll tightly embrace your unbandaged wound"_

Kesenai Tsumi; Inerasable Sin-Nana Kitade

"WAKE UP!"

Screaming, Irma fell out of bed and on top of the person who had just screeched into her ears.

Opening her eyes, Irma got ready to yell right back at whoever was making the mistake of waking her up before noon on a Saturday. Instead of the little brother that she expected, Irma found herself sprawled across her boyfriend.

"Ouch"

"Oh my god! Martin! What are you doing here!"

"TARANEE!" Peter exclaimed, bursting into his sister's room at their temporary home in the Heathersfield Hotel.

Taranee looked up, wanting to know the reason behind this invasion of her privacy,"What!"

"Taranee, I have great news!" he said, panting slightly.

"What? Did you just save a bunch of money by switching to Geico?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No that was last week's good news. This is better."

"Cornelia! You'll never believe what's happened!" Lilian stated in a I-know-something-you-don't-know kind of way.

"What is it little toad?" Cornelia sighed, already annoyed.

"Hay Lin, guess who just called?" teased Mrs. Lin, clearly excited.

"Who? Irma? Tell her I'm busy." Hay Lin didn't even look up from clearing a table.

A new voice joined the conversation."That's not nice, and anyways it wasn't Irma. It was Susan Vandom." At this, Hay Lin stopped and stared at her Grandmother, who just came in.

Then at that exact time, in four different places, four unusual girls were told the news of a lifetime.

"Will's back."

"Wake up Birdie."(1)

The small girl didn't even move, though she was awake and both of them knew it. Sighing, Susan Vandom yanked the covers off the small girl and picked her up, right off the couch. Ignoring her protests, Susan carried Tori to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Honestly, I don't see what the big fuss is. They said you used to get up much earlier than 8:00." she sighed as the girl began eating.

"Yeah, and because of that, they'll try as hard as humanly possible to sleep as late as they can. That and the fact that you let them sleep 'till noon yesterday doesn't help. I warned you not to give in to 'em." the voice drifted to the kitchen from the livingroom.

Suppressing a gasp, Susan headed back over to livingroom-the livingroom mirror to be exact. On it was the image of the one who was responsible for all of what had happened. "Don't do that Crux, you scared me half to death. I swear I'll never get used to this whole magick thing."

"Whatever happened to the phrase 'I'll believe it when I see it'?"

"I'm afraid it doesn't apply in this situation." laughed Susan.

Crux smiled, and instantly, any worries Susan had disappeared. Crux had that affect on people she liked. If she didn't like you-well-heaven have mercy upon your soul. _'Of course, that means she will protect my daughter. Then again, Will can take care of herself pretty well on her own. It's just so hard to believe that my little girl has been through all she has. She has magick, another soul, and- '_

A short, yet strong tug on her skirt snapped Susan out of her thinking. Looking down, she saw a grinning Tori, mischief written all over her face."Is it time to wake Lady Willow?"(2) Susan nodded, and watched the little prankster take off down the hall.

_**"Lympha!"**_

Both Susan and Crux burst out loud laughing at the stream of curses that followed the chant and the sound of a large amount of water being dumped on someone: Susan because she could only imagine what they meant, and Crux because she actually knew what Will was saying. The laughing continued as several thumps were heard followed by a _very_ wet Will chasing the equal wet Tori, hurling streams of water at the petite girl. It all happened so fast that it wasn't until later that Susan remembered what the young girl said, and began to wonder how she knew her adopted daughter's birth name.

--Time Gap–

"This goes where?"

Susan looked down at Tori holding up a glass dish from the dinner she had two nights ago, which she had forgotten to wash in all the excitement of her daughter returning. She had only just now gotten 'round to doing those little, yet necessary things 'round the house-such as dishes(W/Tori's help of course).

Susan pointed out where the dish went and then returned to the soapy pile dishes still in the sink. After a while, they managed to finish their chores, both women(3) collapsed on to the couch, both making it obvious that they were in need to "Take Five."

Of course, this take "Five" lasted for two hours and contained 2 pillow fights, 3 scoops each of Rocky Road ice cream, 1 entire can of whipped cream, 5 trays of various baked cookies, 4 of them eaten, and 6 tickle fights. By the time the "Five" was over, both females were pretty much incapacitated from stomach aches. As for Will...

Let's just say she had a hellova time cleaning up when she got home the next morning.

--Time Gap To The Morning After--

"Ready?"

"..."

"Yes?"

"..."

"No?"

"I'm not so sure about this anymore..." Susan said, staring at her reflection."I didn't realize that you were going to change my appearance with your magick--"

"We told you," Interrupted Crux,"We're not altering your look, that would be a glamour. We're actually changing you--you're not just going to look younger, you will actually be _younger_!"

_That_ Susan couldn't argue with--I mean if someone gave you the chance to shave years off your body, wouldn't _you_ say yes?

But, even though everything had been fully explained to her, Susan Vandom still wasn't prepared for the shock of how drastic the changes were.

She placed her hand up against the mirror and gazed at herself. Her once-back-length hair now barly reached her chin in razor-cut layers and was slightly spiked. Her clothes had been replaced with denim capris with the bottom's folded up and a black graphic-tee with the Superman Shield(4)

on it.

Turning around she couldn't help but grin back at the girls. They were absolutely right before-_This was Awesome! _

"Okay! I'm ready _now_!" Susan exclaimed with a slightly-higher voice.

"Great! Then let's go see what the world is like for a teenage girl in the 21st century! Alright, _Susie_?"(5)

In a brief moment before, when Will had suddenly shown up at the house four days ago from the OtherRealm(6) and Susan first laid eyes on her child-now a grow woman, the wounds she had received with her daughter's disappearance had become unbandaged and exposed. She had feared that she would lose Will again, and had broken down and wept. But now it was clear that would never happened.

Smiling, Susan-Susie, followed them out into the bright light of the day, having completely embraced the changes. And she was glad to have received them.

Without hesitation, both Will and Tori had embraced her.

To Be Continued...

MewWitch: Ta-Da! Another chapter is up! Yay!

Crux: Well it's about time!

MewWitch: Sorry. I've been busy. It's actually really lucky that I was able to finish this. See, tomorrow I'm going on vacation, so this is the last update till I get back. By the way, it was brought to my attention that with all the little authors notes, I take away from the story. So I've started to leave a number where I would normally leave a note and explain it down here.

(1)Tori is actually Japanese for bird so when they call her Birdie, it's actually both her name and a nickname/term of affection.

(2)The name Lady Willow is actually an inside joke with those who know me in real life. They're the names of two of my dogs.

(3)Since Tori's lived in the OtherRealm since Crux found her as a babe, she's actually a lot older than she looks. I haven't actually decided how old Tori is, but she's at least 30.

(4)I read somewhere that the 'S' in a diamond on Superman's chest isn't just a symbol. Apparently it's supposed to be a shield.

(5)I decide that if she was gonna get younger, Susan was also getting a cute nickname.

(6)OtherRealm is what I've decided I'm gonna call the place where Will went to train. The name pretty much speaks for itself.

Until Next Time,

MewWitch


End file.
